Epilogue: All the Days Before Us
“I haven't a clue as to how my story will end. But that's all right. When you set out on a journey and night covers the road, you don't conclude the road has vanished. And how else could we discover the stars?”- Anonymous
The Oracle stood and watched over Creation. Despite the perfection around her, she had one thing left unresolved that still lingered in her mind. It had taken until now to find a solution to her distress, but now she had the answer and the power to enact it. The time was right.
She stretched out her hand and willed changes, marking the Supernal with her signs and making it manifest in the world below. She called forth magic, its weave sparking sounds, each strand of the Practices making its beautiful sad music. The music of the Metachronal Clock.
She willed new strands into being, pulling them tight and mending the tears in the fabric that made up the Song. She took the strands her partner had given her, sending them across Time and Space, reaching, then pulling back. Blending harmony and melody, calling the whole of the song towards her.
And then she willed it whole. The Song changed. Where it was once a cry of lonliness, now a chorus of joy.
*****
Outside of the Tapestry, Logos sat in his chair and suddenly looked up, as the music surrounding him suddenly changed. His normally calm expression turned to worry. He walked towards the door and opened it, finding himself somewhere he had never been before, nor seen in any future, past, or present. He climbed a staircase and found his answer at the top.
The Oracle held a small golden disk in her hand, looking at it with a serene expression.
"Zohar... what have you done?" He asked, growing fearful.
She looked back towards her old master. "I've given you both a second chance," she answered.
"The Clock was separated so that it could be kept from the wrong hands... too many people knew."
"I know. That is why when I rejoined it with the Antikythera Mechanism and the AZM, I erased all traces of their existance from Creation. Now, only you, Teth, and Myself will ever know.... unless you choose to share this with others." She pressed the disk into his palm.
"All the knowledge... the harm it will do to the Mysterium...to have them lose it..."
"It is only lost if you decide to let it stay lost. You can begin to guide the worthy to you without the fears that have kept you so hidden. You don't have to be alone, anymore. Let the right people find you, like you did with me. Let the Clock travel within Creation and see all the wonders that are there...the universe is open to you."
His eyes grew misty. She tentatively put her arms around him, bringing him into a hug. He wept into her shoulder, then pulled away. With a gesture of respect, he opened the disk. "Thank you...Oracle."
"It's just Zohar. Always has been. Always will be."
The Corpus Author returned home, smiling brighter than she had ever seen. It was a new day for him, and for the Order she had always loved.
*****
Zohar and Teth watched over Creation. They watched as the Pentacle endured throughout the years. Each rose and fell as leaders came and went, won and lost battles. Throughout the centuries, they would ever inch forward, even if they could not see how far they had come.
They watched their descendents over the ages. Occasionally they would send their forms to the Fallen World and interact with them, for watching their children age and die, and their children age and die would tear at their heartstrings at times. But they would occasionally push the odds in their favor, help their lives be happy. Occasionally they would cheat. But they had become good at not getting caught. They had created their Dynasty, seeing many children grow and Awaken, join their favorite Order, and become leaders in their own right. Occasionally some even crossed the Threshold themselves. Each one, no matter what direction they took their lives, filled them with joy. Occasionally they would even pop into their old home, the Victorian mansion that the family now used as their ancestral home.
As time went by and their names became legend, they saw that young mages were sometimes told stories of how the Sun and the Moon once became mortal and walked the world as Awakened, having great adventures together and becoming leaders within the Alae Draconis.
The legends grew, as some thought the spot of a powerful Hallow in a field of Amaranth flowers indicated the birthplace of one of the Oracles. Some claimed that the Sariras of the Soundless Wheel were actually once the bodies of the Oracles before they ascended. They were two human forms of pure crystalline rock. One glowed with sunlight and produced strange music when struck, and the other produced no sounds when struck, but offered fleeting glimpses into Time and Space when peered through it.
They watched the world react to the birth of the new Supernal Realm, once the paranoia and fears of False Awakenings had passed. The Awakened that answered their calls came into being with an unusual proficiency in both Forces and Time, though some produced Prime and Space. Their Mystery plays always involved a pair, a duo. A man and a woman. The sun and the moon. Silver and gold. Scholars peiced together the truth after many decades. They called the new realm the Realm of Hope and Abode of Potential, Watchtower of the Star Crossed Oracles.
Zohar and Teth simply called it home.
The Oracle stood and watched over Creation. Despite the perfection around her, she had one thing left unresolved that still lingered in her mind. It had taken until now to find a solution to her distress, but now she had the answer and the power to enact it. The time was right.
She stretched out her hand and willed changes, marking the Supernal with her signs and making it manifest in the world below. She called forth magic, its weave sparking sounds, each strand of the Practices making its beautiful sad music. The music of the Metachronal Clock.
She willed new strands into being, pulling them tight and mending the tears in the fabric that made up the Song. She took the strands her partner had given her, sending them across Time and Space, reaching, then pulling back. Blending harmony and melody, calling the whole of the song towards her.
And then she willed it whole. The Song changed. Where it was once a cry of lonliness, now a chorus of joy.
*****
Outside of the Tapestry, Logos sat in his chair and suddenly looked up, as the music surrounding him suddenly changed. His normally calm expression turned to worry. He walked towards the door and opened it, finding himself somewhere he had never been before, nor seen in any future, past, or present. He climbed a staircase and found his answer at the top.
The Oracle held a small golden disk in her hand, looking at it with a serene expression.
"Zohar... what have you done?" He asked, growing fearful.
She looked back towards her old master. "I've given you both a second chance," she answered.
"The Clock was separated so that it could be kept from the wrong hands... too many people knew."
"I know. That is why when I rejoined it with the Antikythera Mechanism and the AZM, I erased all traces of their existance from Creation. Now, only you, Teth, and Myself will ever know.... unless you choose to share this with others." She pressed the disk into his palm.
"All the knowledge... the harm it will do to the Mysterium...to have them lose it..."
"It is only lost if you decide to let it stay lost. You can begin to guide the worthy to you without the fears that have kept you so hidden. You don't have to be alone, anymore. Let the right people find you, like you did with me. Let the Clock travel within Creation and see all the wonders that are there...the universe is open to you."
His eyes grew misty. She tentatively put her arms around him, bringing him into a hug. He wept into her shoulder, then pulled away. With a gesture of respect, he opened the disk. "Thank you...Oracle."
"It's just Zohar. Always has been. Always will be."
The Corpus Author returned home, smiling brighter than she had ever seen. It was a new day for him, and for the Order she had always loved.
*****
Zohar and Teth watched over Creation. They watched as the Pentacle endured throughout the years. Each rose and fell as leaders came and went, won and lost battles. Throughout the centuries, they would ever inch forward, even if they could not see how far they had come.
They watched their descendents over the ages. Occasionally they would send their forms to the Fallen World and interact with them, for watching their children age and die, and their children age and die would tear at their heartstrings at times. But they would occasionally push the odds in their favor, help their lives be happy. Occasionally they would cheat. But they had become good at not getting caught. They had created their Dynasty, seeing many children grow and Awaken, join their favorite Order, and become leaders in their own right. Occasionally some even crossed the Threshold themselves. Each one, no matter what direction they took their lives, filled them with joy. Occasionally they would even pop into their old home, the Victorian mansion that the family now used as their ancestral home.
As time went by and their names became legend, they saw that young mages were sometimes told stories of how the Sun and the Moon once became mortal and walked the world as Awakened, having great adventures together and becoming leaders within the Alae Draconis.
The legends grew, as some thought the spot of a powerful Hallow in a field of Amaranth flowers indicated the birthplace of one of the Oracles. Some claimed that the Sariras of the Soundless Wheel were actually once the bodies of the Oracles before they ascended. They were two human forms of pure crystalline rock. One glowed with sunlight and produced strange music when struck, and the other produced no sounds when struck, but offered fleeting glimpses into Time and Space when peered through it.
They watched the world react to the birth of the new Supernal Realm, once the paranoia and fears of False Awakenings had passed. The Awakened that answered their calls came into being with an unusual proficiency in both Forces and Time, though some produced Prime and Space. Their Mystery plays always involved a pair, a duo. A man and a woman. The sun and the moon. Silver and gold. Scholars peiced together the truth after many decades. They called the new realm the Realm of Hope and Abode of Potential, Watchtower of the Star Crossed Oracles.
Zohar and Teth simply called it home.